Cardinals survey global suffering at Vatican consistory

Following the Pope's opening speech, Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś introduced the first session, titled “In what kind of world are we called to proclaim the Gospel?” The archbishop of Krakow mentioned the “32 wars” currently being fought on a global scale. He also cited numerous social wounds, including a “tsunami of loneliness” in the West.

He described the instrumentalization of religion in secularized societies as a “profound and disastrous blasphemy.” These societies, according to the cardinal, oscillate between “[seeking] greatness in the freedom from religion” and “[hijacking] religion to promote ideas and actions that are totally foreign to it.”

During the subsequent group discussions, participants outlined a panorama of the sufferings experienced by contemporary humanity. Words such as “polarization,” “violence,” “loss of values,” and “fatalism” returned like a refrain. The Holy See reported that the cardinals cited numerous evils, expressing particular concern for the well-being of young people. They referred in particular to noting a “general feeling of distrust, of fatalism and of impotence in the face of institutions, to democracy and to the future.”

In this painful context, the prelates expressed a desire for the Catholic Church to be “a welcoming place,” which includes “reorganizing parishes.” They noted that the institution must be “capable of recognizing its own errors” and seeking “the way to recover the credibility that other institutions lack.” This would allow the Church to “speak with authority in favor of the dignity of the person and of peace.”

Pope Leo XIV didn’t participate in the small group discussions, but he was present during the subsequent reports. “If we aren’t blind, it’s true that there’s a great deal of suffering,” the Holy Father agreed, exhorting the Church to get involved to foster an environment of encounter.

After a midday break, the second session of the consistory opened on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The work is scheduled to continue until Saturday evening. During these two days, organizers have asked the cardinals to maintain media discretion regarding the closed-door discussions.